Retired grade school teacher, teacher librarian, and traditionally published writer focuses on reviewing picture books with some MG, YA, and Adult. Reading to/with children, writing for children, and more.

Alligator Angles by Stephanie Neilan. Book Review.

This tiny book introduces a clever way for children to remember the three major types of mathematical angles.

The narrator finds a cute baby alligator. On the page, an alligator is represented by straight lines, his jaw forming an acute angle. The right angle is represented by an alligator mother. (After all, aren’t mothers always right?) The father, is the obtuse angle. These are the three alligators drawn on the cover above.

The book ends with seven questions on these angles, each drawn using the alligator shape. Then a word bank explains five essential terms.

This is a catchy idea to help kids learn angles but it is awfully short to be sold as the book. It was seven pages on my tablet.

After introducing the three characters, I felt the author could’ve written a genuine story featuring the alligators to reinforce the concepts.